About Us
Sage River Farmstead started as four chickens, a refurbished rotted garden shed and a passion to live a more sustainable life.
Back then we pushed our small heavily forested one acre plot to its maximum potential. Four hens quickly grew to ten, then 16, than 20..... well you know where this is headed. I spoiled those chickens rotten! I grew up with horses and had been gardening on a small scale for years but something about raising those hens, eating the eggs they produced and loving every minute of it ignited a deep satisfaction in me that could only be satisfied by the continued pursuit of living a more self sufficient and grounded life.
From egg layers I quickly added on pasture raised meat chickens. I love to cook, forage and hunt so consider this transition completely inevitable! I began selling our home grown eggs, chicken, ducks and turkeys to friends, family and co-workers. Luckily my employer at the time had a great sense of humor and didn't mind me pulling up to work with a truck load of coolers handing out freshly packaged chickens during work hours!
As our dreams continued to grow, we began seeking opportunities to expand for ourselves and raise the animals, have the gardens and the space we craved to raise a family. Making the jump from our one acre homestead to a 140 year old farm was one of the biggest blessing. Since then we have continued to grow the farm and have moved to the Bitterroot Valley in Stevensville Montana. This transition allowed for more dreams to come true.
Unlike most girls the walls of my teenage bedroom were covered in pictures of pigs in every shape and size. This was a direct long standing petition for my need of a pet pig. I have to say my first AGHs did not disappoint! I loved those boys. We chose our breeding stock meticulously for temperament, yield and grazing ability. They will always have a place on our farm. We experimented with several breeds of larger hog and found that personable red Tamworth were a great fit for us! They have exception meat quality a great growth rate and are easy keepers.
The one animal that spoke to my soul the loudest though weren't the pigs, its my milk cows. When the time came that I felt I had researched, saved and prepared enough there was no stopping me from getting a cow! AND she was terrible, mean, poorly trained, had chronic mastitis from being dried off improperly and was an obvious cull cow who I had been naive enough to not see through my own fictitious view of.
But, I don't regret it one bit because I learned so much from the experience. Which means when I found my true love....I mean Jersey...I valued her even more and knew what I wanted to work towards. This experienced shaped how we manage our herd, train our cows, and support our customers.
We care for our animals, are dedicated to our health and theirs. We strive to provide the highest quality of life to our flocks | herds. Thank you for taking the time to read about our journey to Sage River Farmstead we hope to see you at a class, over a cooler of fresh chickens or chat about our livestock.